"Job-centered economic development" integrates approaches from the fields of economic development, employment training, social services and community development. Its strategies focus on connecting disadvantaged adults and youth to family-supporting jobs in their towns, cities and regional economies, and ensuring that these jobs are sustainable, thus providing the basis for long-term careers. This collection of perspectives helps tie those approaches together into a guide for community development and local economic development professionals.

First Sentence
In March 1997, 100 people convened at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., to grapple with the issues of job availability, livable wages, and welfare changes (Jobs for the Future 1997).&nbspRead the first page